FORMER crook Ian ‘Blink’ Macdonald plans to go head to head with podcaster James English in a battle for viewers.
The ex Glasgow gangster launched his Blink and You’ll Miss It podcast in January and has attracted around 10,000 subscribers – despite appearing without guests on the show.
Now the former prisoner says he aims to attract “supervillain” guests on to his channel in a bid to rival the Scots ex-Glow star.
English has gained a following of 358,000 subscribers to his Anything Goes with James English YouTube channel having interviewed a variety of guests, including gangsters, comedians, sportsmen and porn stars.
But now MacDonald, 61 – whose interview on English’s show three years ago has been viewed more than 700,000 times – plans to up the ante.
He claims he was recently snubbed by English when he asked his fellow-podcaster for tickets to see him interview former hood Paul Ferris, 58, in Glasgow in March.
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He said: “He’s blocked my number because I asked for tickets for the Ferris event. It has got my back right up.
“Any time I try to get hold of James he’s on a train a plane or on a mountain.
“I was doing it as a hobby, just for something to do.
“I said when I first came on board at the end of January that I’m not competing. I said ‘I wont be getting two supervillains a week’. But, I have been thinking I might up the ante.
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“I’ve not had a guest yet. I’ve just been talking away myself about stories and built up a wee following.
“The difference with me is that I’ve been there and done that and wore the T-shirt and wrote the book. If anybody knows about crime or these supervillains it’s me. I’ve been inside with lots of people.”
MacDonald was convicted of a bank robbery in 1992 and served ten years behind bars for the crime.
Despite the alleged ticket snub MacDonald was able to storm the stage at March’s event at Glasgow’s Crowne Plaze to shake hands with Ferris.
He purchased tickets for A Night With Paul Ferris: The Final Chapter on Facebook.